The 2007 Real Estate Market: Bad or Good?

When looking back at the 2007 residential real estate market, consideration should be given to both the number of sales and to the home prices.  And depending on your point of view, the market has been bad (if you're a seller who just purchased in the last 2-3 years) or good (if you're a buyer and have more time and inventory to consider than you had previously thought possible).

In terms of the number of sales, consider these resale numbers nationally:

• In 2001, 5.3 million sales - highest level to date (as of 2001)
• In 2002, 5.6 million sales - climbing...
• In 2003, 6.2 million sales - climbing...
• In 2004, 6.8 million sales - 2nd best year
• In 2005, 7.1 million sales - best year in history so far
• In 2006, 6.5 million sales - 3rd best year
• In 2007, 5.6 million sales - just as high as our recent great year of 2002

And here in Howard County, with our nationally-recognized school system, and Ellicott City recently named as one of the top 10 places to live in the US, we are nestled between both the Washington DC and Baltimore City job markets, and we have the government workforce, Ft. Meade and BRAC:  We are in the enviable position of having a much more stable housing market than many other locations across the country.

Buyers are still buying existing homes, as they should.  And Sellers are still selling their homes, most of them for more than their original purchase price, and generally recouping any loss at their next purchase.  So I ask, isn't the state of the market sometimes a simple matter of perspective?

Best regards,